#EndSARS: Three teeth, death certificates tendered as Niger panel castigates police

“Mistakes have been made in the past. But I think it is not too late to correct them.”

ELFREDAH KEVIN-ALERECHI • February 25, 2021

Nigeria Police Force

The Judicial Panel of Inquiry in Niger, set up to investigate alleged police brutality and human rights violations in the state has accused the police officers of impunity and insubordination.

The panel’s chairman, Ishaku Usman, stated this during the presentation of the panel’s report to the state governor.

On October 23, 2020, the state government inaugurated a 14-man judicial panel of inquiry against police brutality to investigate human rights abuses by the disbanded SARS and recommend ways to prevent reoccurrences.

Mr. Usman said the panel received 17 petitions and 53 witnesses, disclosing that 50 exhibits were tendered, including “three teeth of a young lady, three death certificates, 33 teargas canisters, and four bullet shells.”

Voice of Nigeria reports that Mr. Usman recommended empathy to be included in the training and re-training of police officers to make them more humane in handling.

In response to the panel report, Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello urged the federal government to prioritise police personnel’s welfare with a provision of adequate work equipment for effective service delivery.

Mr. Sani-Bello inaugurated a new committee in charge of the white paper to review the panel’s report and make recommendations for implementation.

“People make mistakes. Mistakes have been made in the past. But I think it is not too late to correct them. The police and the people must coexist within the ambit of constituted authority.

“We need the police, but then the police need society. So we must have a way to abide by the law and other authorities at the same time we expect them to handle within the confines of the law,” said Mr. Sani-Bello.

Other governors have started receiving reports from judicial panels of inquiry in their states.

Peoples Gazette reported that Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, received a report from the state’s judicial panel

Mr. Wike urged the police to implement the white paper when submitted.

A white paper is a government report to establish certain solutions for a particular problem.

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